Steven Moffat, former showrunner of Doctor Who and writer of this year’s Christmas special, says that Joy to the World was inspired by C. S. Lewis’ Narnia stories.
In this rather heart-warming and exciting interview with the writer (whose previous festive specials include A Christmas Carol, The Snowmen, and Last Christmas), Moffat also teases that Joy to the World is about a hotel “where every Christmas is available at once”…
What do you think makes Doctor Who at Christmas so special?
I think the Doctor, as a character, lives in the same space in a child’s head as Santa Claus; that strange man from somewhere else who is grumpy with the adults and loves kids and really just wants to play. They were always related in my head – at the very least friends and colleagues. I thought the Doctor probably did shifts in the toy workshop. When I was a kid the only thing I loved as much as Doctor Who was Christmas Day so for me it’s a perfect fit.
How does writing for the Christmas special differ from other episodes?
It’s Doctor Who, only more so. More zest, more spice, more danger. The ultimate family show on the ultimate family day. But that doesn’t mean it just becomes frothy and silly. As my friend Mark Gatiss is always saying, Christmas stories should also be sad and scary. Doctor Who is perfect for that. It’s like a ghost story at Christmas by a crackling fire, with the Doctor to keep you safe from the monsters and the dark.
How did the idea for Joy to the World come about?
As a child, I always wondered about “the other door” in a hotel room, the one that wouldn’t open. I was obsessed with Narnia, and of course obsessed with Doctor Who, so I believed in the power of doorways to take you somewhere extraordinary. I would always test any locked door I couldn’t account for, in the hope that it would lead me to the TARDIS or Narnia – or as it turns out now, the Time Hotel. There is often that strange locked door in a hotel room, and I’ve always wanted to write about it. I’m surprised it took me this long.
Describe the special in one sentence.
The Doctor, grieving for his lost friend Ruby, visits a hotel where every Christmas is available at once.
How was it to jump back into the world of Doctor Who last season and this special?
Truthfully, I haven’t been away that long. During my gap, I did a couple of Doctor Who-related projects so I fell back into it fairly naturally and fairly easily. If anything, it was probably easier writing it now than it was towards the end of my showrunning days, because I was so tired by then. The schedule on my last year was agonising, because I was coming to the end of Doctor Who and Sherlock at the same time. I did fourteen new Doctor Who episodes and three new Sherlock films, and the scripts were all on my desk in the same year. I’ve written such a lot of Doctor Who that I can always find the on switch for that part of my brain.
Do you change the way you write the Doctor to suit the actor in the role?
Not in ways that I can necessarily quantify. You just listen to their voice and put the Doctor into that voice. They are the same person throughout, and never really change that much – they could never walk past a fairground or a crying child, but all that love and mad enthusiasm is mediated through a new voice and a new face. I never know how much of a change you’re really making.
When I wrote The Eleventh Hour, Matt [Smith, the Eleventh Doctor] hadn’t been cast yet so I just wrote the Doctor as I normally wrote him. Then when Matt was cast, everybody complimented me on the “brilliant rewrites” I had done for the episode, but the truth was I hadn’t altered a word – they were just imagining Matt doing it and that made it seem different. The biggest difference you actually make in the approach to the Doctor is that you cast someone else.
It alters, but in ways I try not to think about too much.
Where will you be watching the episode on Christmas Day?
I will be watching it live as it goes out in my house, as I always do. I always watch the Christmas episode. We have friends around on the day who love the show, so we always watch it with them.
If you had access to the Time Hotel, where would you go first?
Right here, right now. I am very happy where I am. I don’t know what the future will bring, and I know the past is less good than today so right now, I’m very happy. I’ll stay put, thank you!
Directed by Alex Pillai, Joy to the World will be broadcast on BBC1 on Christmas Day, at 5:10pm, and will be available to stream on Disney+ outside the UK the same day.
